Starbucks' Howard Schultz: 'Ashamed' by arrests at Philadelphia store

Former Starbucks chief executive Howard Schultz says he was "ashamed" and "embarrassed" by the arrests of two black men at one of the coffee chain's stores.

The men were arrested for trespassing last week at a Starbucks in Philadelphia. A white Starbucks employee called police on the men, who said they were waiting for a friend. A video of the arrest ignited a national uproar and led to protests and calls for boycotts.

In his first public comments since the arrests, Schultz, who stepped down as CEO last year but remains chairman of Starbucks'(SBUX) board of directors, told "CBS This Morning" that "the reason the call was made is because they were African-American."

"I think you have to say in looking at the tape that she demonstrated her own level of unconscious bias," Schultz said of the employee. "And in looking at the tape, you ask yourself whether or not that was racial profiling."

The former Starbucks chief said that bias was common and "many people in America are not prepared to talk about race."

Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson has announced plans to close 8,000 company-owned US stores for an afternoon in May to train about 175,000 employees on racial bias. The company said it will develop the training with a group that includes former Attorney General Eric Holder and Sherrilyn Ifill, the president of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund.